The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to the former Indian players, Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, after questioning the two former star players, Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan, in connection with the money laundering case against the illegal online betting platforms. This has been used on multiple platforms for surrogate advertisements and to collect funds from the use.

The former wicket-keeper opening batter, Robin Uthappa, was asked to appear at the headquarters of the ED on September 22 and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On the other hand, the premier spin all-rounder of the Blue Brigade, Yuvraj, has been asked to appear at the centre on September 25 after the activation of the new Online Gaming Bill 2025. 

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Despite the new rule from the Indian goverment and its instruction from the Centre that advertisements of online betting platforms are not permitted, despite this, the famous personalities in the field of entertainment and sports endorsed them. They are now under the scanner of the ED and could get summoned soon, as the officer revealed.

ED summons Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Sonu Sood and others for Online Betting Money Laundering Case 

ED gathered the information over the past several months, and betting platforms, which have been banned over the years, run their operations by changing names. These platforms violate multiple laws and directions by the Indian government, including tax evasion, money laundering, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, as the money has been transferred out of the country illegally.

Along with Yuvraj and Uthappa, the Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has also been called for the case. The former TMC member of the Parliament, Mimi Chakrabarty, has also been questioned, while the Tollywood actor, Ankush Hazra, was questioned by the ED officers. Bollywood’s Urvashi Rautela is also anticipated to appear before the agency, but she has not come to record her statement.

In July, the agency had called the representative of the Google and Meta universe for questioning as part of the probe. Yuvraj and Uthappa are both part of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup-winning side, while the former has been helping to raise funds for flood-hit victims in Punjab.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was obliged to find a new jersey sponsor when Dream11 was disqualified from eligibility under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act. The previous ₹358 crore agreement with Dream11 was canceled, and the BCCI had to issue a new tender. The eligibility regulations excluded companies from "real money gaming, a cryptocurrency business model, betting, tobacco, and alcohol" sectors. After competing against each other, multiple established Indian corporates submitted bids for the sponsorship, and Apollo Tyres secured the much-anticipated sponsorship rights.

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Apollo Tyres was the successful bidder for the jersey sponsorship rights of India’s men's and women's cricket teams until 2027. The sponsorship was valued at roughly ₹579 crore, and Apollo Tyres pledged ₹4.5 crore for each bilateral game and ₹1.72 crore for each ICC fixture. This was greater than bids received from Canva and JK Cement. The sponsorship consisted of 121 bilateral matches and 20 ICC fixtures. Beginning this October, Apollo’s branding will appear on India’s jerseys during the highly publicized Test series against the West Indies, only in October.

Comparative Bid Details for India's New Jersey sponsor

The table above show why Apollo Tyres has been awarded the rights. Even though Canva was slightly higher in terms of rate for ICC events, Apollo's higher bilateral match bid and overall package took it to another level.

There were again multiple areas where the tender was shaped with specific guidelines to meet government compliance and ethical compatibility. BCCI kept  sensitive categories such as gaming/bitcoin/betting, alcohol and tobacco brands from the running. It also kept banks, financial institutions and alcohol brands, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages and sportswear manufacturers from bidding on the jersey rights. The compliance and ethical areas helped thin out the process allowing manufacturing and lifestyle brands to hop in. Compliance was assured which allowed Apollo Tyres to provide a better financial package by meeting compliance in the tender process instead of just relying on the financial package to win the process.

The contract should get Apollo Tyres unmatched exposure as Team India has over 140 international matches scheduled to take place across formats throughout the sponsorship period. The brand will even appear on both men's and women's jersey, meaning millions of fans around the world will be exposed to the brand. For BCCI, this sponsorship helps secure a major amount of revenue for the BCCI to continue to maintain its advantage at generating some of the biggest commercial partnerships in the history of world cricket even after the departure from Dream11.

Way for Apollo Tyers with BCCI

In a matter of weeks, Team India supporters will see players take the field in new playing kits that display the insignia of Apollo Tyres. The collaboration does not stop with on-field branding, but extends to integrated marketing campaigns, television commercials, and social media tie-ins. This gives Apollo Tyres the opportunity to be aligned with one of the most powerful sports brands on the planet—Team India—and increase its brand presence both in India and around the world.

In this arrangement, it is either the BCCI's vision or adaptability, or perhaps a combination of both, that resulted in a fantastic outcome that represents the BCCI's ability to adapt to modification of its regulations while still extracting maximum commercial value. The Apollo Tyres deal ensures both financial support and the dawn of a new era in sponsorship professionally in cricket in India. Perhaps this model represents the beginning of dispelling the traditional models of sponsorships in the cricketing space whereby corporate brands and cricketing excellence can go hand-in-hand to the benefit of players, sponsors, and the cricket board.